Charlie Ragonesi Big Canoe Realestate's Blog

The second home Market in the Mountains

Right now the second home market in the North Georgia Mountains is a buyers market. Sales are generally below last year. Overall about 15 percent down. However prices are still relatively stable although trending lower. The big dip is in the second home market.

There are 2 trains running down the real estate track here. One is the first time buyer market. That market is brisk. Prices are good. Interest rates are good. Inventory is good.Homes are seeing multiple offers and good homes are moving well.

The second home market or even the retirement home market is sluggish. Reasons for this include a bad Florida market. Many of our buyers look to beat the heat and are from Florida. As they cannot sell there they cannot buy here. Also other areas of the country effected by home sale slowdown impact us.

On the other hand buyers who are working North of, or on the North side of Atlanta, or are telecommuting are discovering the benefits of mountain living.

So we have mixed bag. How long will the good time for buyers remain? They will remain until other markets turn around and potential buyers can become liquid. There is a great pent up demand. So if you can now is the time to buy.

0 comments • Charlie Ragonesi 706- 579-1098 • July 19 2009 12:41PM

Helping Buyers

A Realtor saves you money. If you are buying a home and working with the listing agent you may not know to ask

1 When was this home listed? People always ask because if they think the home was on the market for a long time they can get a better deal. But in Georgia in order to get the 600 a year for 3 years tax credit the home has to be listed before May 11 2009.                          Savings over 3 years        1800

2 You have till the end of the year to get the first time home buyer credit. Wrong you have to close by Dec 1. Also you are a first time buyer if you have not owned in 3 years. Also the home must be more than 80,000 to get the full 8,000. There will be buyers who miss this credit because they do not have a Realtor to inform then

                                                                       Savings                          8000

3 So you are buying in the mountains but are fro a city or out of state. You think the best you can d is FHA with 3.5 percent down. You work with a listing agent and find your own local lender. Problem is local lender is not in area that does USDA and does not offer you 100 percent financing. Oh, by the way payments with USDA and no money down due to PMI costs usually work out to be LESS than with FHA . Assume you are buying 150,000 house.

                                                                    Savings                           5250

Total savings on these 3 things alone 15,050. Think you can get this much off a home of 150000 without using a buyers agent. Think again. These are 3 easy examples of why you should use your own Realtor when buying in Georgia.

5 comments • Charlie Ragonesi 706- 579-1098 • July 19 2009 10:31AM